Yes, that’s right: This May we are celebrating Me-Made May! Or more specifically, we are celebrating the 9 years of community building, inspiration, and personal growth that Me-Made May has brought the sewing community!
As I’m sure you all know, Me-Made May is hosted by Zoe from So Zo’ What Do You Know. As Zoe explained in the announcement post for Me-Made May 2018,
“Me-Made-May ’18 (#MMMay18 for social media interaction) is a challenge designed to encourage people who sew/knit/crochet/refashion/upcycle garments for themselves to wear and love them more. This challenge works on both a personal and community level. The participants decide the specifics of their own challenge, so that the month is appropriate and challenging for them (more on this below), and aim to fulfil that pledge for the duration of May 2018. Some participants also choose to document their challenge photographically (though this is in no way compulsory for taking part) and share them with other participants.”
So, in honour of Me-Made May, and its focus on community building, sustainable sewing, and creating a wearable wardrobe, we here at the Sewcialists have a fun two months of inspiration and discussion posts lined up in April and May, including:
- an interview with Zoe about why she runs MMM
- tips for tracking your MMM experience, beyond (or instead of) daily selfies
- first-time participants and long-time MMMers reflecting on what they learn through MMM
- a look at MMM around the world
- inspiration for refashioning clothes so they’ll get worn and enjoyed
- ideas for evaluating your wardrobe and filling gaps
- … and much more!
Our goal is to pay tribute to Me-Made May, not to usurp it. Think of our theme month as the meta-discussion about Me-Made May — like meeting up with several hundred of your favourite sewing friends to chat while you all work on challenging yourselves!
Participants should still sign up with their pledge on Zoe’s blog, and use the hashtag #MMMay18 on any social media posts. However, if you are sharing about what MMM means to you, what you are learning, and any refashions or sewing to improve your wardrobe, then tag us too with #SewcialistsLoveMMMay !
Have you participated in Me-Made May before? Are you planning on participating this year? We’d love to hear from you in the comments! We’ll also be reaching out on Saturday, April 7th for a total of 6 volunteer authors from the blog (7am EST) and Instagram (7pm EST) to write about their take on #SewcialistsLoveMMMay. Watch this space — it’s first come, first served, and the spots always fill up quickly!
First time participating in MMM this year! I can’t wait!
Woohoo! It’s SO much fun!
Count me in! MMM18 will be an inspirational journey for me personally! 🙂
It’s nice to have a sewing challenge that is all about personal goals and accountability – no rules except for what you set yourself! 🙂
I’ve attempted mmmay before but without as much success as I’d like. I would like to attempt again this year but must get to work on some nursing friendly tops! It’s always inspiring for sure.
How about keeping you Me-Made goals quite achievable, sot hat this is the year you make it through? Me-Mades three times a week, or something like that?
Exciting! I haven’t been able to participate for a couple of years, but I can finally do it again this spring. And since one of my goals is evaluating my wardrobe for holes, I’m very much looking forward to seeing what shows up here about that!
YAAAAY! It’s your year!!! <3
I have been dithering about signing up as I just don’t have the me-made wardrobe to wear something every day. However, MMM i is just so inclusive that I think I should. I would love to work on my wardrobe so better now than never! Xx
This is my first year doing MMM, and my goal is to wear one thing I’ve made to work each work day. I’m not going to worry about repeats (so if I wear the same knit sweater for a few days when it’s cold I won’t fuss) because my overall goal is to get myself to reach for my me-mades first, rather than defaulting to RTW!
I love the inclusivity of this challenge too!
This will be my third year participating, and this year I am challenging myself to wear at least ONE Me-Made thing every day in May. I started 2 years ago wearing Me-Made 4 out of 7 days, then last year I did 5 out of 7. This was a big challenge because I needed to get up the courage to wear me-made things to work (in my rather buttoned-up office) and also because I didn’t have enough good work-wear. Now (I think) I am ready!
So are you still nervous about wearing me-mades to work, or has that fear lessened over the years?
Yes, it’s been an interesting journey! I have felt I’ve actually taken a reputation hit professionally (in the past) for sewing. Id be happy to share more if you think it’s appropriate.
I’m curious to learn more- I’ve noticed that I’m developing a new style from sewing more. Not as many really tailored pieces, since I’m not as good as sewing those yet. My office is pretty casual, so this hasn’t been an issue, but I’d love to hear more about your experience.
Thanks for reaching out. I’ll plan to write about it in May, if not with the Sewcialists then with my blog, Distaff.
This would be my fifth MMMay, but at this point in my sewing journey, everyday is me-made. I only have one piece of RTW left–a basic black hoodie. I’m hoping to replace it with me-made in the next few weeks. I still wear RTW socks & shoes, but I’m hoping to start making my own soon.
All of which is to say, I haven’t gotten into MMMay in the last year or two, because it’s kind of just another month for me. I was surprised my firsr year. I’d only been sewing for about a year, but I had enough in my closet to wear me-made everyday. After that, I started challenging myself to wear a different me-made everyday, which was also surprisingly easy, because I decided bras/undies counted & I had plenty of those. I’m really at a loss as to what to do this year to try to make it more of a challenge for myself. Ideas are welcome!
What about re-fashioning something you haven’t worn in a while? Or branching out of your colour comfort zone? (more colours at once?)
2017 was the first year I felt I finally had a worthy enough me-made wardrobe to participate in MMMay. I had pledged to wear one me-made article of clothing each day, doing my best to not repeat too often.
That was the catalyst. Now I wear something me-made almost every single day. AND when I make something new, something RTW must come out of my closet to be donated.
Because this spilled over into my every-day life of 2017 and into 2018, I’m unsure of how to challenge myself for MMMay2018. I’m toying with the idea of doing full me-made outfits (no RTW except socks and undies) but not sure my sewn wardrobe is quite extensive enough yet.
I will be having a baby in a few days! let’s see how this MMMAY2018 Goes!
Oh goodness! Best of luck and health to you and your family – take it easy with MMM this month! 😄
Hello
I am getting into commercial machine embroidery now and wonder if you know about good groups/blogs in this area.
Thanks
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Sorry, that’s not our area of expertise!
This will be my first MMMay, and my goal will be to wear something me-made at least 4 days a week. My me-made work wardrobe is not very large, and most of my garments are for cooler weather. I have 3 dress projects ready to go and that will bolster my wardrobe.
I’ve been doing MMMay for several years now, but this will be my first May in which the weather will be highly variable! Looking forward to experimenting with spring layers and my new climate.
Muhuhahahaha – enjoy the fun of starting the month in wintery layers, and ending in summer clothing! It makes for confusing dressing!
I am going to attempt my first MMMay. I am not putting pressure on myself I am just going to go with the flow and the weather and see what I end up wearing each day
Last year was my first #memademay, and as I still don’t have enough of a wardrobe to wear something me made every day, I’m taking the same pledge this year as last year: to either wear something I’ve made or work on something I’m making every day! Last year really helped me get in the habit of catching small moments of sewing where I could and also recording what I’ve been working on, and I’m looking to take it even further this year!